DECEMBER 4-8

7:30 PM, Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People (DANCE)

VENUE: BAM Fisher, Fishman Space

DETAILS:  “Improvisation makes you realize how important, scary, and potentially wonderful every single second of your life can be.” —Miguel Gutierrez

A work for dancers, aged 33 to 62, exploring the crisscrossing pathways of the brain and the elusive logic of improvisation, welcoming mixed messages while accessing an eerie, otherworldly state of hope and vitality. Sights and Sounds: Six fierce performers, the inventive glow of light concocted by Lenore Doxsee, the hallucinatory sound stylings of Neal Medlyn, and the cool, dislocating film and words of Boru O’Brien O’Connell. My art is most inspired by: Most recently, ghosts, varying definitions of consciousness, somatics, California sunlight and highways, and trippy, melodious electroacoustic music.

http://www.bam.org/dance/2012/and-lose-the-name-of-action

ADMISSION:  $20

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5

8 PM    Ben Goldberg’s Unfold Ordinary Mind

VENUE:  The Stone

DETAILS:  Ben Goldberg (contra alto clarinet, compositions) Ellery Eskelin (tenor sax) Nels Cline (guitar) Ches Smith (drums). I have been developing my abilities on the E-flat contra alto clarinet (a weird member of the family, pitched below the bass clarinet) for some years, mostly in my work with the group Tin Hat. Somehow it occurred to me to have a band where I was the bass player, on this instrument. Of course the group would need two of my tenor saxophone heroes (Ellery Eskelin and Rob Sudduth), a guitar genius (and now certifiable rock star) (Nels Cline), and the deeply tumultuous drummer Ches Smith. So after finishing up the premiere of my latest giant project, Orphic Machine, in March of 2012, I wrote a bunch of songs and assembled this crew at the Bunker studio in Williamsburg one day in May. We learned the tunes, rehearsed, and recorded them all in just a few hours, and the results are extraordinary—raw, dire, and to the point. The record will be released by my label, BAG Production Records, in January. The record is called Unfold Ordinary Mind, which is also the name of the band for a few East Coast shows I am happy we will be playing in December.

ADMISSION: $10

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9

9:00 PM, Weasel Walter, Mary Halvorson and Peter Evans

VENUE: Death by Audio

DETAILS:The collective knowledge base of drummer Weasel Walter, guitarist Mary Halvorson and trumpeter Peter Evans stretches from death metal to experimental improv. On the trio’s new Mechanical Malfunction—which finds the group tackling precomposed pieces for the first time—it continues to find novel ways of balancing aggression with whimsy. Helping to round out this spiffy bill is the duo of local avant-garde drum whiz Kid Millions and Jim Sauter, half of the revered/feared saxophone tandem from noise-jazz institution Borbetomagus.-timeout
http://www.improvisedcommunications.com/calendar/

ADMISSION: $7

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11

8:00 PM    Phantom Orchard: Zeena Parkins & Ikue Mori // Pet Bottle Ningen

VENUE:  Roulette

DETAILS:  Friends and colleagues since 1988, Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins are two of the strongest musical voices out of the downtown scene. Lynchpins of bands as diverse as DNA, Skeleton Crew, Electric Masada, Hemophiliac and Bjork, their duo project Phantom Orchard is the perfect outlet for their unique and personal musical languages and their rapport is evident in each and every track. Here they create eleven compositions of unique cutting edge music with the help of some of the brightest lights in improvised music. Mystery, lyricism and electronic soundscapes from this most dynamic of all dynamic duos.

http://roulette.org/events/phantom-orchard/

ADMISSION: $10-15

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14

9PM, Ivo Perelman with Joe Morris & Gerald Clever

VENUE: Nublu
DETAILS:
Part of Nublu’s annual Jazz Festival. Visit www.nublu.net or www.nublujazzfest.com/ for more details on admission, showtimes and band details.
http://www.ticketfly.com/event/193127-spanglish-fly-rene-lopez-ivo-new-york/
ADMISSION: $15

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

7 PM   ICElab: Self Fictions World Premiere. Music of Patricia Alessandrini + Juan Pablo Carreño

VENUE:  Baryshnikov Arts Center

DETAILS:  ICE performs new works by two France-based composers. Patricia Alessandrini’s Gurre-Klänge puts a magnifying glass to Schoenberg’s most outrageously large-scale work, Gurrelieder; and Juan Pablo Carreño’s Self-Fiction series creates violent walls of sound that break down conventional rules of music performance. With video design by Ross Karre and lighting design by Nicholas Houfek.

http://www.bacnyc.org/performances/performance/icelab-self-fictions

ADMISSION: Free, reservations are required.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

10 PM William Parker’s Winter Music for Mixed Ensemble

VENUE:  The Stone

DETAILS:  Part 1: William Parker (1890 duplex bass, hochiku, bass duduk) Dave Hofstra (bass sax) J.D. Parran (bass sax) Justin Fryer (bass) Keith Park (percussion) Part 2: Kyoko Kitamura (voice) Miya Masoka (koto) William Parker (bolon) Part one: “Nadir For Bruce Baille (2012)”. Part two “Smiles left In The Snow (2012 ) For Ken Jacobs.

ADMISSION: $10

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16

2:00 PM, Fools Mass performed by Theatre Group Dzieci (THEATRE)

VENUE: The Firehouse Space

DETAILS:  In Theatre Group Dzieci’s living example of Holy Theatre, a group of medieval village idiots are forced to enact their own Mass, due to the untimely death of their beloved pastor. Bursting with buffoonery and comic audience participation, Fools Mass is balanced with lovely hymns and chants from the 8^th to the 14^th centuries, creating a seminal work that has been Dzieci’s signature piece since 1998.

 “Dzieci is a wonderful example of the spiritual intensity possible when theatre engages the age-old mysteries of faith and the human experience.” – Canon Tom Miller, Cathedral St. John the Divine

http://thefirehousespace.org/event/fools-mass-performed-by-theatre-group-dzieci/

ADMISSION: $10

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16

An evening of John Zorn’s Book of Angels / Nublu Jazz Festival week

9:00pm-2:00am

VENUE: Nublu

DETAILS: An evening of John Zorn’s Book of Angels / Nublu Jazz Festival week

Cyro Baptista and the Banquet of the Spirits, Abraxas, Mycale, Aleph Trio
http://www.nublujazzfestival.com/
http://www.ticketfly.com/event/193131-cyro-baptista-banquet-new-york/

ADMISSION: $20

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 – SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013

8:00 PM    Kristen Kosmas: There There (World Premiere, THEATRE)

VENUE: Performance space 122

DETAILS:   “Nobody, and I mean nobody, holds a candle to [Kosmas’] writing. No gimmicks, no flash just sheer poetic brilliance” – Andy Horwitz, Culturebot

Christopher Walken, on tour in Russia with a solo show inspired by everyone’s favorite Chekhovian sociopath, mysteriously falls off a ladder and is unable to perform. Karen, who apparently proofread the script once, is asked to go on in Walken’s place. A precarious bilingual performance duet ensues between Karen and her Russian interpreter, Leo. There There is a wildly unpredictable theatrical roller coaster about being the completely wrong person in the totally wrong place at the exact wrong time doing all the most wrong things. Directed by Paul Willis, performed by Kristen Kosmas & Larisa Tokmakov, design by Peter Ksander, translation by Matvei Yankelevich.

http://www.ps122.org/there-there/

ADMISSION: $20 / $15

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21

8:00 PM ANDREA PANCUR & ILYA SHNEIVEYS feat. LORIN SKLAMBERG. ALPEN KLEZMER CD release.

VENUE:  Barbes

DETAILS:   Andrea Pancur from the Bavarian capital of Munich and Ilya Shneyveys from Riga in Latvia play their fusion of Bavarian and Yiddish music, dubbed “Alpen Klezmer” – Klezmer from the Alps. Both musicians have dedicated themselves to rediscovering the songs which both traditions once shared, have given them a good dusting off, and under the banner “Long live the kosher mountain yodler” have packed their rucksacks full of new and exciting material. Klezmatics front man Lorin Sklamberg will yodel along.

http://barbesbrooklyn.com/calendar.html

ADMISSION: $10

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23

7:00PM HUTSULS SINGERS. Winter Songs and Dance Music.

VENUE:  Barbes

DETAILS:   Old-style winter solstice songs and wild dance music from villages high in the Carpathian Mountians. Ivan and Mykola Zelenchuk sing as Mykola Ilyuk plays Carpathian fiddle, Vasyl Tymchuk tsymbaly, while Ostap Kostyuk plays on duda or bagpipes and flutes.

http://barbesbrooklyn.com/calendar.html

ADMISSION: $10

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30,
8 and 10 PM FESTIVAL—A STONE BENEFIT
VENUE: The Stone

DETAILS: John Zorn (sax) Ikue Mori (electronics) Anthony Coleman (piano) Ron Anderson (guitar) Eyal Maoz (guitar) Uri Gurvich (sax) Brian Chase (drums) Ilhan Irsahin (sax) Nonoko Yoshida (sax) Ty Citerman (guitar) and many special guests

ADMISSION: $25